The Mazda 6 is a sports car with excellent handling and a ride that is close to the road. To avoid damaging the undercarriage of your car and keep it running at peak performance, you need to replace your shocks and struts after you've driven 60,000 miles under normal driving conditions.
Instructions
Replace the Front Struts in a Mazda 6
1. Lift the front end of the Mazda 6 with a floor jack and support it by the frame with jack stands. Follow the brake hose back from the wheel hub toward the strut, which has a coil spring with hardware on each end.
2. Remove the brake hose bracket from the strut and the antilock brake sensor. Disconnect the stabilizer bar link nut halfway down the strut, and unbolt the lower end of the strut, including the fork right below it. Disconnect the upper mounting nuts in the frame, and remove the strut assembly. Repeat this step on the other side of the Mazda 6.
3. Align the new strut, and install the upper mounting nuts. Set the dial on the torque wrench to 21 ft-lb, and tighten the nuts until you feel the wrench give. Align the damper fork, and install the bolt connecting it to the strut assembly, torquing it to 31 ft-lb. Install the lower strut bolt, and torque it to 68 ft-lb.
4. Install the stabilizer bar link nut, and torque it to 31 ft-lb. Attach the brake hose bracket, and torque the bolt to 13 ft-lb. Attach the antilock brake sensor. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 on the other side of the Mazda 6, and lower the front end of the car. Have a professional align the front end.
Replace the Rear Struts in a Mazda 6
5. Lift the rear end of the Mazda 6, and support it with jack stands. Remove the rear wheels with a tire iron.
6. Disconnect the antilock brake sensor from the strut, and remove the top strut and bracket retainers. Disconnect the bracket. Unbolt the bottom strut mount bolt and pull the strut out from the suspension system. Repeat on the other side of the car.
7. Position the new strut and bracket in the assembly, and torque the bracket bolts to 27 ft-lb. Bolt the bottom of the strut to the brake caliper, and torque it to 68 ft-lb. Attach the upper mounting nuts, and torque them to 63 ft-lb. Attach the antilock brake sensor to the strut. Repeat this step on the other side of the Mazda 6.
8. Mount the rear wheels, and lower the rear end of the car. Have a professional align the rear end.
Tips Warnings
When you change the strut on the driver's side of the Mazda 6 you might need to remove the cable for the parking brake and the caliper on the driver side rear wheel hub before you can reach the struts.
When you buy replacement parts for your Mazda 6, you can call the struts shocks and the employees at the parts store understand you, but technically the parts you're replacing are struts. You won't actually replace a shock.
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